Reported Killing of Children Haunts Foreign Forces as Protests Erupt Across Afghanistan

[Mari333]

KABUL (AP) — Thousands of Afghans shouting ”Death to America!” protested the killings of children Thursday, the latest in a string of controversial cases in which international forces have been blamed for civilian deaths.


On Wednesday, an explosion tore through a group of children gathered around foreign soldiers visiting a U.S.-funded road project in Nangarhar province, east of the capital of Kabul. Afghan officials said four children were killed. NATO said two died.

Minutes after the blast, local residents were accusing American forces of throwing a grenade into the crowd — even though several international troops were among the wounded. The Afghan Interior Ministry later released a statement saying the explosion occurred when a passing police vehicle hit a mine.

Still, an estimated 5,000 protesters demonstrated the deaths Thursday along a road between Kabul and Jalalabad in Nangarhar. They waved a banner condemning the attack, set fire to an effigy of President Barack Obama and chanted ”Long live Islam!” and ”Death to Obama!”










http://rethinkafghanistan.com/blog/?p=1169

[StarfarerBill]

1. We'll be seeing many more childrens' deaths and resultant protests...

...in the months to come, I'm afraid.

More hearts, minds, and lives are being lost every day our occupation continues.

[Mari333]

2. I am praying for a HUGE crowd of antiwar protesters on March 20

in DC. the MSM is totally ignoring our atrocities.

[StarfarerBill]

6. The MSM is completely co-opted; we'll have to rely on independent media for the truth.

There and here.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

24. Dear God this has got to end.

I think about it all the time. I feel like I have blood on my hands just being a citizen of this country.
How can he allow this to go on? His own two daughters eat snow cones on the beach while these children
are blown to bits. These people want nothing from us but to leave them alone. They would be no threat
to us if we just left. Completely get out of the region and build new sources of energy here.

[GreenPartyVoter]

26. Do you have any info for a rally?

[Pavulon]

27. Would this be an appropriate thread to promote it?

Personally that reeks a bit to me.

[GreenPartyVoter]

31. Well I'd be happy to receive it as a PM or through a new thread. :^)

[EFerrari]

3. We are ensuring that anti-American sentiment stays as high as possible

for decades.

Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan, Gaza.

If a soldier killed my child, I would never get over it and neither would anyone in my family. Ever.

[Mari333]

4. exactly. we are the bad guys.

[The Doctor.]

12. Pretending to be under attack by the good guys we *turn into* bad guys...

with the media.

[slipslidingaway]

5. knr nt

[gratuitous]

7. Dumb old Afghans

Don't they read DU? This is the best of all possible worlds, and couldn't be any better! Sure, some of this death is regrettable, but it's really for their own good. Would they rather have the Taliban running everything? Also? I mean, if you had three kids, and the Taliban killed two of them and the U.S. military killed one of them, you'd be happy for the military to be there, wouldn't you? Right?

The "logic" is unassailable!

[earcandle]

8. Genocide paid by our tax dollars!

Are we finished funding war yet?

If we have no power over what is paid for by our taxes, then
stop paying the fucking taxes already.

Small business should just start paying everyone as a
contractor and ignore the IRS and EDD.

Try to enforce that one, gov. 

[Mari333]

9. I always wonder why the pro lifers are in any of this

I guess that murdering children who arent white is okay by them.

[earcandle]

10. Good point! Where are they when their needed!

[Mari333]

11. Krispy Kreme?

[earcandle]

30. Drowning in the bathtub filled with Krispy Creme Donuts!

Happy Fun Ball

[Pavulon]

13. Sounds like an own goal.

enemy set a mine, friendly guys hit it. They killed their own people. Al-q never to worried about that. Explosion killed people and injured our people. Frag grenade in crowd would kill more than 2 or 4. Just saying.

[rwheeler31]

14. Remember we didn't start this fire, how do we stop

it now? The neocons wanted to be in the area not Afghanistan. They ignored it for years.

[Mari333]

15. we leave.

[Pavulon]

16. Then what?

I assume you believe if we ignore the larger problem it goes away.

[madrchsod]

20. we let india, china,and europe protect their precious juice.

[madrchsod]

19. we started during the late 70`s

the whole thing started with carter-carter doctrine and really got rolling with reagan-reagan doctrine. watch "charlie wilson`s war" it`s a true story and it`s an accurate portrayal. it`s been downhill ever since.ya for about 30 yrs now we have been at war in that part of the world.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

25. We can stop pouring kerosene on it by sending more troops and killing the Afghans.

[LooseWilly]

17. Just based on anecdotal personal experience/evidence... once Afghans get the idea you're crooked...

there's no changing their minds.

Just based upon my experience with Afghans in the Oakland CA taxi unionization struggle... but once they thought a lawyer sold out the taxi drivers... there was no other perspective that one could entertain. Either one saw that the lawyer was crooked, or one was crooked oneself for suggesting the lawyer wasn't crooked.

There was no middle ground (it was like talking to LoZocalo about something Obama has done that is "bad"... there are no details, just right or wrong).

Purely anecdotal evidence, but there are a lot of Afghans that contributed to my survey sample... and based upon that, if the story above, wherein the Afghans accused the "foreign troops" of lobbing a hand grenade, despite "foreign troops" sustaining casualties themselves...? To quote Hudson from Aliens "Forget it man, Game Over."

That article is all it takes to convince me that we will never win the hearts and minds in Afghanistan. It's time for a fall back & retreat strategy. In a few years it can be tried again... whole new invasion with a whole new cast. Like a re-make of "Charlie's Angels". In the meantime... I suggest getting the fuck off the last nerve of the population.

[madrchsod]

18. according to a report on thom hartman today

an average 3 kids a day have died during the war......links

http://www.spot.lk/article11659-three-children-killed-daily-in-afghanistan.html

http://www.afghanconflictmonitor.org/

in the 60`s it was ....."hey,hey lbj..how many kids did you kill today ?"

that chant bothered lbj more than anything the anti-war movement said about him.

"winning the hearts and minds" of the Afghans.......

[Cetacea]

21. k&R

[arcadian]

22. Hearts & minds

[Turborama]

23. I'm more inclined to believe that it was the result of a Taliban IED...

...than our troops throwing a grenade into a crowd of civilians. If it was Blackwater mercenaries that were involved, I wouldn't be so sure, though.

http://icasualties.org/OEF/RadControls/Chart/Image.aspx?UseSession=true&ChartID=649a991b-1352-3ae8-a2e3-d286fe446e13_chart_ctl00$ContentPlaceHolder1$IED1$RadChart1&imageFormat=Png&random=0.232100248444872

Many more civilians have been killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan than by American troops.

Where are the protests about the suicide bombers murdering children?

Attack Leaves 10 Dead in Southeast Afghanistan

By DEXTER FILKINS and ABDUL WAHEED WAFA

Published: January 7, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber attacking a pro-government militia commander detonated his bomb-laden vest in a southeastern provincial capital, Gardez, on Thursday, and witnesses said he killed 10 people and wounded 27, most of them civilians. Also on Thursday, the governor of a neighboring province survived a bomb attack.

In Gardez, capital of Paktia Province, witnesses said the suicide bomber walked up to the commander, Nasir Paray, who leads one of the many pro-government armed groups in the area, and detonated his vest. The commander died in the blast, which also killed four children.

Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/08/world/asia/08afghan.html?ref=world

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

28. How many girls are splashed with acid by their own people

for just going to school? Why aren't Afghanis protesting that and chanting against the Taliban in the same way as that ol' evil US of A?

Let's not forget or be naive enough to think that perhaps these cowards USE children as shields so when something goes awry, as it does happen, it looks like ol'mean USA and Yurpeens don't give a shit and kill Afghani children all the time, as if that was done on purpose.

[Mudoria]

29. +1

[DeeOwl]

32. This kind of stuff happens constantly...

I vaguely remember a story of some dutch journalist in Iraq who went along on a patrol with an American crew somewhere in western Iraq. (Back in 2004-2005 or so I think.) Anyways, while they were walking down some dirt road several of the soldiers took few shot at some rural Iraqi girls working in the field, just for fun. After girls ran away terrified, an older man ran out from a nearby house, apparently yelling all sorts of profanities in Arabic at the soldiers. One of the soldiers didn't like this and fired a short burst hitting the man (who was unarmed) thus killing him. The dutch guy had all this on camera until he was told to erase it or there would be two bodies sucking dirt there. He reported this to the appropriate authorities and was told there would be an investigation. I wish I could dig up the story. I think it was mentioned briefly on Democracy Now few years ago as well. I don't think this was mentioned anywhere else, ever again.

Anyways, this sort of stuff happens constantly no doubt, in Afghanistan AND Iraq. Remember, our guys are there to kill towelheads, plain and simple, as far as their orders on the ground are concerned. I mean, does anyone really think all this stuff about avoiding civilian casualties and wining hearts and minds gets filtered down to the troops. As soon as the cameras are turned off, it's crusadin' time, 12th century style! You better believe it!